Transcription
BIBLE STUDYF E AT U R I N GWILL GRAHAMNashville, Tennessee
Reid PattonJoel PolkBible Study DeveloperEditorial Team LeaderDavid HaneyBrian DanielProduction EditorManager, Short-Term DiscipleshipJon RoddaMichael KelleyArt DirectorDirector, Groups MinistryPublished by B&H Publishing Group 2018 Redemption Productions LLCNo part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic ormechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system,except as may be expressly permitted in writing by the publisher. Requests for permission shouldbe addressed in writing to Groups Ministry Publishing; One LifeWay Plaza; Nashville, TN 37234.ISBN 978-1-5359-2320-0Dewey decimal classification: 234.3Subject headings: SALVATION / LOUIS ZAMPERINI / CHRISTIAN LIFEThe movie clips included in this product are intended for small-group or in-home use only.They are not intended for large-group or churchwide exhibition.Stills from Unbroken: Path to Redemption 2018 Universal Studios. All rights reserved.WTA and the WTA logo are trademarks of the WTA Group LLC 2018. All rights reserved.Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible , Copyright 2017by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible and CSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.Printed in the United States of AmericaGroups Ministry Publishing B&H Publishing GroupOne LifeWay Plaza Nashville, TN 37234
ContentsAbout the Movie 5About the Filmmakers and Contributors 6Introduction 7How to Use This Study 8WEEK 1: Brokenness 10WEEK 2: Misplaced Hope 22WEEK 3: Redemption 34WEEK 4: Forgiveness 46Leader Guide 60
About the MovieUnbroken: Path to Redemption begins where thehit movie Unbroken concludes, sharing the nextamazing chapter in the true story of Olympian andWorld War II hero Louis Zamperini.Haunted by nightmares of the torment he enduredas a prisoner of war, Louie sees himself as anythingbut a hero. Then he meets Cynthia, a young womanwho captures his eye—and his heart.Louis’ wrathful quest for revenge drives him deeperinto despair, putting the couple on the brink ofdivorce. Then Cynthia experiences Billy Graham’s1949 Los Angeles crusade, where she finds faith inGod and a renewed commitment to her marriageand her husband. Now her most fervent prayer is forGod to help Louie find the peace and forgiveness heso desperately needs.Unbroken: Path to Redemption brings to life therest of this powerful story of forgiveness, redemption, and grace.About the Movie5
About the Filmmakersand ContributorsMATTHEW BAER is the producer of Unbroken, based on LauraHillenbrand’s best-selling book. Angelina Jolie directed Unbroken, whichearned 163 million worldwide. Matt has also produced the characterthriller Maggie; the independent film The Bachelors; City by the Sea,with Robert DeNiro, Frances McDormand, and James Franco; View fromthe Top, with Gwyneth Paltrow and Mike Myers; Jack Frost, with MichaelKeaton; and The Replacement Killers. He has produced three films withfirst-time directors.HAROLD CRONK is the director of numerous films, including God’sNot Dead, which won the Gospel Music Association Dove Award for Inspirational Film of the Year. He’s the founding partner of 10 West Studiosand EMC Productions. He won the Best Director Award at the BeverlyHills International Film Festival in 2006 for his film War Prayer. He wroteand directed the films Jerusalem Countdown and Mickey Matson and theCopperhead Conspiracy. He also has extensive theatrical film credits in artdirection and set design.WILL GRAHAM, the grandson of Billy Graham and the oldest son ofFranklin Graham, is the third generation of Grahams to proclaim the gospelof Jesus Christ through the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Willserves as the vice president of the BGEA and as the executive director ofthe Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove in Asheville, North Carolina.He has held Celebrations evangelistic outreaches on six continents since2006. A graduate of Liberty University and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Will and his wife, Kendra, have two daughters and a son.6Unbroken: Path to Redemption
IntroductionLouis Zamperini was a college track star, an Olympic hero, and a decoratedWorld War II veteran. He survived more than a month adrift in the PacificOcean and the brutality of a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp. His story waschronicled in Laura Hillenbrand’s New York Times best seller Unbrokenand in the 2014 film of the same name. Unbroken: Path to Redemptiontells the rest of Louis’ amazing story.Louis returned home a war hero who still had a war to fight. The war wasn’tover just because everybody said it was. After a rocky start, Louis marriedand focused on training for an Olympic return. When an injury dashedhis hopes, he began drinking and pushed his marriage to the brink. Louisplaced all his hope in his ability to returned to greatness, but his brokenness led him to a place where God could do something greater in his life.This small-group Bible study, based on the movie Unbroken: Path toRedemption, examines the story of God’s work in the life of one man andurges us to examine what God is doing in our lives. Just as God led Louisfrom brokenness and misplaced hope to redemption and forgiveness,He does the same for all who trust in Him.God stories are meant to be shared. All people called by God travel theirown paths to redemption. Through this study you’ll experience Louis’ storyand learn to share your own.Introduction7
How to Use This StudyGroup StudyEach group session consists of five sections: “Start,” “Watch,” “Discuss,”“Respond,” and “Pray.” Participants will complete an additional “Tell YourStory” section during the week following the group session. Allow forty-fiveto sixty minutes for each session.START. Each group session begins with an introductory overview of thelesson to come. Read the section and answer the introductory questionstogether as a group.WATCH. Each Bible-study video session contains a brief clip from thefilm Unbroken: Path to Redemption with accompanying teaching by WillGraham. The total length of each video session is four to eight minutes.DISCUSS. This section is the primary focus of each group session.Leaders should spend the majority of the session teaching while askingthe questions in this section.RESPOND. This section closes the group session with a few questionsdesigned to engage the hearts and the hands of participants. These questions take the themes of the week and bring them home through practicalapplication.PRAY. Close the group session by praying together. Thank God for thegroup study and pray for the personal study and the conversations groupmembers will have between sessions.For help in leading the group sessions, see the leader guide on pages 60–63.8Unbroken: Path to Redemption
Personal StudyTELL YOUR STORY. Unbroken: Path to Redemption Bible studycenters on four key moments in Louis Zamperini’s story. Each week participants will be asked to record the story of what God is doing in their livesand to share it with someone else.PUT IT ALL TOGETHER. At the end of study, members willbe encouraged to use the four “Tell Your Story” sections to record shorttestimonies. Composing their testimonies will help participants prepare toshare the hope of Christ that is in them.The movie clips included in this product are intended for small-group or in-homeuse only. They are not intended for large-group or churchwide exhibition.How to Use This Study9
WE E K 1B ROKE N N E SS10
11
StartUse these questions to introduce the group session.What are a few of the most significant moments in your life?How have those moments shaped your life for good or bad?Unbroken: Path to Redemption picks up Louis Zamperini’s story at whatyou would imagine to be a high point. Assumed dead, abused in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp, Louis returned home alive. His family rejoicedbecause their lost son had returned to them. His country lauded him asa hero. Yet when the war ended, Louis’ real battle began. The war wasn’tover just because everyone else said it was.The war followed Louis home. The trauma he experienced shaped the wayhe saw the world. His captors tortured him in dreams. He was desperateto find a release from his pain, but his brokenness drove him further intodarkness.Each of us deals with brokenness. How we deal with our brokenness determines the course of our lives. Taking it on ourselves leads tomore brokenness. Handing our brokenness to God leads to healing andrestoration.12Unbroken: Path to Redemption
WatchUse this space to take notes as you watch video session 1.Video rentals available through bhpublishinggroup.com/unbrokenWeek 113
DiscussUse the following questions to discuss the video teaching.What did the Holy Spirit impress on you in this week’s videoteaching?Anyone paying attention will notice the brokenness in the world. Naturaldisasters, sickness, death, national tragedies—all these events point to thereality that the world isn’t as it should be. It has been broken by sin, andso have we. Today we’ll examine the cause and the cure for brokenness.Describe a time when you felt your brokenness.Read Genesis 3:1-7. What caused the brokenness we experience?The root cause of brokenness is sin, and the root of all sin is idolatry. Adamand Eve knew God’s standards, but they thought they knew better. Theyhad more faith in their own instincts than in God’s decrees. Their choiceled the world into sin. Ever since the garden of Eden, men and womenhave grappled with sin and brokenness, both as a result of the fall andas a result of their choices.14Unbroken: Path to Redemption
What’s the difference between brokenness caused by the presenceof sin and brokenness caused by the choice to sin? In whichcategory would you place Louis’ brokenness?Some hurts come from living in a fallen world. Louis didn’t choose to entera prisoner-of-war camp. This brokenness came from the hands of others.Yet Louis chose to cover his brokenness with poor decisions. He abusedalcohol in an attempt to hide his brokenness. Louis’ alcoholism becamea signpost leading back to his hurt.Louis covered his shame with drinking, whereas Adam and Evehad attempted to cover their guilt with fig leaves. What stepsdo we take to mask our brokenness?Read Romans 2:4. Why should your brokenness lead you to Godinstead of away from Him?Fig leaves couldn’t hide Adam and Eve’s brokenness. In fact, they accomplished the opposite effect. The fragile leaves highlighted their nakednessinstead of concealing it. When we try to mask our brokenness, the resultsaren’t more convincing. Feeling broken is a gift from God that’s meantto demonstrate our need for Him.Week 115
Read Hannah’s story in 1 Samuel 1. Eli saw Hannah’s brokennessand misdiagnosed the cause. What happens in our lives if wemisdiagnose the cause of our brokenness?What helped Hannah walk through her brokenness? What comfortdoes her experience give you?In the teaching video Will spoke about our need to take our brokenness to God. Why do we take our brokenness to other places first?Hearing Hannah’s wailing, Eli mistakenly believed she was drunk. Hemissed the true cause of her brokenness. If we misdiagnose the disease,we won’t find a cure. Louis couldn’t cure his brokenness just by abstainingfrom alcohol. The problem ran much deeper. Louis needed what Hannahalready knew:The LORD is near the brokenhearted;he saves those crushed in spirit.Psalm 34:1816Unbroken: Path to Redemption
Read Romans 3:23. When we’re talking to others about brokenness, why is it helpful to remember that this condition affectsall people?Why must we hear the bad news about sin before we hear the goodnews of the gospel? Why is this bad news offensive to people inour culture?Romans 3 levels the playing field. Sin introduced brokenness into theworld, and all people feel its effects. Because sin is a universal condition,brokenness is a universal condition. Only God can forgive brokenness. Healone can repair our souls. Like Hannah, we can cry out and receive God’shelp. Recognizing sin and brokenness paves the way toward redemption.The good news of the gospel is that we can cry out to God. The brokennessthat separates sinful people from a holy God was bridged by the cross ofJesus Christ. When we repent of our sin and we trust in Christ’s perfectlife and sacrificial death on our behalf, we’re reconciled to God. A new lifebegins at that very moment.How are you experiencing brokenness? Have you ever turned overyour brokenness to God, repented of your sin, and trusted Jesus asyour only hope in life and death? If not, would you like to do thatright now?Week 117
RespondApply this session’s teaching to your life.Sin creates a hole in us that only God can fill, yet we try to fill it with otherthings. Louis tried; we try as well.Maybe you wear your brokenness on your sleeve. Maybe you bottle it upinside. Louis bottled up all the pain and hurt inside until he could nolonger keep it hidden. Brokenness poured into his life through anger anddrinking. Your brokenness might not look like Louis’, but it’s still therebelow the surface. Maybe you recognize it; maybe you don’t. Regardlessof the way you handle your brokenness, you must deal with it.If you’re a Christian, how has the way you deal with brokennesschanged as you’ve grown in your relationship with Christ?Whom do you know who’s struggling with brokenness?How could you point them to the hope of Christ in t
Unbroken: Path to Redemption picks up Louis Zamperini’s story at what you would imagine to be a high point. Assumed dead, abused in a Japa-nese prisoner-of-war camp, Louis returned home alive. His family rejoiced because their lost son had returned to them. His country lauded him as a hero. Yet when the war ended, Louis’ real battle began. The war wasn’t
